Diluted solution dispensing apparatus for boats

ABSTRACT

An elongated flexible strip incorporating a longitudinally extending central tube provided with egress openings is arranged to be wrapped about the hull portion of a boat adjacent its bow. A chemical is fed into the central tube and passes out in controlled quantities from the egress openings to thereby form with water passing by the hull a diluted solution which then passes down the length of the hull and thereby reduces the friction of the boat hull when passing through water.

United States Patent Inventor Appl. No.

Filed Patented Assignee Ralph Edminster Gibson Los Angeles, Calif.

Mar. 23, 1970 Dec. 21, 1971 Gibson Associates IncorporatedContinuation-impart of application Ser. No. 807,881, Mar. 17, 1971, nowabandoned. This application Mar. 23, 1970, Ser. No. 21,585

DILUTED SOLUTION DISPENSING APPARATUS FOR BOATS 4 Claims, 5 DrawingFigs.

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,954,750 10/1960 Crump etal. 114/67 X 3,084,651 4/1963 Parmenter 114/67 X Primary Examiner-AndrewH. Farrell Attorney-Pastoriza & Kelly ABSTRACT: An elongated flexiblestrip incorporating a longitudinally extending central tube providedwith egress openings is arranged to be wrapped about the hull portionofa boat adjacent its bow. A chemical is fed into the central tube andpasses out in controlled quantities from the egress openings to therebyform with water passing by the hull a diluted solution which then passesdown the length of the hull and thereby reduces the friction of the boathull when passing through water.

PATENTEDDECZI [an 3 234 sum 2 or 2 W m m INVENTOR. RALPH EDMINSTERGIBSON BYp DILUTED SOLUTION DISPENSING APPARATUS FOR BOATS Thisapplication is a continuation in part of my copending U.S. Pat.application Ser. No. 807,881 filed Mar. 17, 1969, now abandoned.

This invention relates to an improved apparatus for dispensing a dilutedsolution of water and chemical adjacent to the bow of a boat to therebyreduce the friction of the boat hull when passing through water.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It has been well established in the priorart that by dispensing a chemical such as an oil at the forward portionof the boat hull, the friction of movement of the hull through water issubstantially reduced.

Conventionally, the dispensing of a chemical is accomplished by formingsmall holes or slots in the forward portion of the hull of the boat. Aninterior apparatus dispenses a measured amount of chemical through theseopenings to mix with water passing along the hull.

While the foregoing arrangement is effective in carrying out theintended purpose, it is necessary to structurally modify the particularboat involved. More particularly, holes or passages must be formed inthe hull of the ship to provide egress for the chemical involved. Thisoperation must normally be carried out in a dry dock unless the holesare formed during the manufacture of the boat in question. Moreimportantly the puncturing of the hull itself below the water line canimpair the structural integrity of the hull. This latter problem isparticularly acute in the case of submarines wherein very high waterpressure is exerted on the hulls.

For smaller type boats, such as private pleasure craft, rupturing of thehull in order to provide a suitable egress openings can become verydifficult and expensive, particularly in the case of multilayered woodenhulls and reinforced fiber glass type plastic hulls.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION With the foregoing in mind,the present invention contemplates the provision of an apparatusenabling the dispensing of a diluted solution of water and chemicalalong the forward bow portion of a boat to realize the advantages ofreduced friction without the necessity of puncturing or otherwiseimpairing the hull below the waterline in any manner.

More particularly, the invention contemplates the provision of anelongated flexible tube means adapted to be wrapped about the undersideof a forward portion of the hull of a boat. This tube means includes aplurality of egress openings. One or more chemical storage tanks arecarried on the boat at a level above the ends of the tube means and eachconnected by a conduit to the tube means. This conduit preferablyincludes a control valve so that a controlled amount of chemical such asoil may be passed to the tube means and dispensed from the egressopenings in a manner to provide a proper diluted solution passing alongthe hull.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention, the tube means includes aflexible strip material having a thickened central portion tapering tothinner dimensions towards its longitudinal edges, the back surface ofthe strip being substantially flat for engaging the hull. The chemicalpasses through a tube imbedded in the thickened central portion of thestrip or alternatively through a hole formed directly in the thickenedcentral portion. With this arrangement there is provided a stream lineconfiguration when the strip is secured about the hull portion. Further,a desired length of strip material may be cut to adjust to theparticular size of the boat to which the strip is to be affixed.

An improved mixing of the chemical and water to provide the desireddiluted solution is accomplished by providing curved passage means.These passage means include entrance and exit openings, the entranceopenings being adjacent to the egress holes for the chemical. Waterpassing along the hull enters the entrance openings of the passage meansand picks up the chemical flowing from the tube egress holes and effectsa desired mixing, the resulting solution thereafter being dispensed fromthe exit opening of the passage means to flow along the hull of theship.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS A better understanding of theinvention will be had by now referring to the accompanying drawings, inwhich:

FIG. I is a fragmentary perspective view of the bow portion of a boatwherein the apparatus for dispensing a diluted solution of water andchemical has been attached in accord with the invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary exploded perspective view of a portionof the apparatus of FIG. ll;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary cross section taken in the direction ofthearrows 3--3 of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary perspective view of an alternative form of aportion of the apparatus; and

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary cross section taken in the direction ofthearrows 55 of FIG. 4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION Referring to FIG. 1 there is shownthe bow of a boat 10 about which there has been wrapped! an elongatedflexible strip 11. As will become clearer as the description proceeds,the strip 11 includes a central tube means passing longitudinallythrough the strip. A first end of the central tube connects throughconduit 12 to a control valve 13 and a further conduit 14 to a chemicalstorage tank T5. The other end of the central tube similarly connectsthrough a control valve 16 to a storage chemical tank 17 on the oppositeside of the boat. The storage tanks 15 and 17 and associated valves 13and 16 may all be located inboard in concealed compartments if desired.In this case the connecting conduit such as 12 would pass through anupper opening in the boat side well above the waterline, oralternatively simply pass over the top edge of the hull.

The central tube means includes egress holes such as that chemicalspassed into the central tube will exit through the egress holes and mixwith water flowing along the hull of the ship to provide a dilutedsolution which in turn flows along the hull as indicated by the arrows18. This diluted solution of water and chemical serves to reduce thefriction of the hull passing through the water.

Referring now to FIG. 2, details of a first type of the flexible stripand central tubular structure will be evident. As shown, the flexiblestrip means itself constitutes an elongated strip of flexible material19 which may constitute neoprene or similar flexible rubberlike materialor even flexible plastic and fiberglass combinations. This strip has athickened longitudinal central portion tapering to thinner dimensionstowards the longitudinal edges thereof as indicated at and 19b. The backof the strip is substantially flat as shown at 19c and it is this flatsurface which is designed to engage directly the forward portion of thehull of the boat of FIG. 1.

In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the heretofore referred to tube means takesthe form of a central tube 20 of flexible material which may constitutea plastic type tube or even a flexible metal tube imbedded within andpassing longitudinally through the thickened central portion of thestrip. The structure also includes a plurality of spiral passage meanssuch as indicated at 21, 22, and 23, encircling the tube, each of thepassage means circumferentially extending substantially 360 about thecentral tube. As shown particularly for the spiral passage means 21, thepassage terminates in entrance and exit openings 24 and 25. Theseopenings lie substantially in a plane normal to the back surface 190 ofthe strip and including the axis of the central tube. The openingsthemselves are longitudinally spaced by an amount defined by the pitchof the spiral passage means.

The various egress holes or openings from the central tube in the stripare disposed adjacent the entrance openings for the various spiralpassage means such as indicated at 26 for the entrance opening 24 of thespiral passage means 21. It should be noted that the imbedding of thecentral tube in the strip is such that a longitudinal wall portion ofthe tube is exposed along a front surface of the strip as indicated at27. The purpose of the flexible strip material itself surrounding amajor portion of the central tube is simply to provide a streamlinedhousing and secure support for wrapping the structure about the hull ofthe boat.

In the exploded portion of the drawing above the strip 19, there isillustrated one type of control valve which may be connected between theconduits l2 and 14 for controlling the rate of flow of chemical from thetank 15 of FIG. 1 into the central tube. As shown, this valve takes theform of a needle valve having an adjusting screw 28. The chemical fromthe tank 15 of FIG. 1 completely fills the inner chamber of the valve asindicated at 29. This chemical, as mentioned, may take the form of anonpollutant oil and will flow through the adjusted valve opening intothe central tube to completely fill the tube and pass from the variousegress holes such as 26 at a controlled flow rate.

FIG. 3 shows in fragmentary cross section the manner in which theentrance and exit openings are substantially aligned in a longitudinaldirection; that is, one above the other. In the preferred embodiment,the end portions of the spiral passage means are flattened slightly asindicated at 24 and 25 to improve the overall streamlining'provided bythe flexible strip 19 to water flow over the structure. In addition,this slight flattening changes the cross-sectional area of the spiralpassage means and results in a more thorough mixing of chemical flowingfrom the egress hole 26 and received in the entrance opening 24 withwater moving in the direction of the arrow 30 simultaneously received inthis opening. The mixed water and chemicals swirl around the spiralpassage means in the larger cross-sectional areas and become thoroughlyintermingled before exiting from the exit opening in the generaldirection of the arrows 18. The back of the strip 19 may be providedwith an epoxy bonding agent 31 for securing the strip to the hull.

FIG. 4 illustrates an alternative flexible strip structure 32 forproviding a proper mixing of chemical and water. In this embodiment theexterior shape of the strip is substantially the same as that of thestrip 19 of FIG. 2 but rather than a central tube imbedded in the strip,there is simply defined a tubular passage means by forming a bore 33through the thickened portion.

A plurality of small lateral holes 34 from the bore 33 terminate inentrance openings 35 of curved passage means 36 formed in the stripmaterial. Rather than spiral about the main bore as in FIG. 2, thesepassage means cause the water chemical solution to circulate about anarc defined by the inner wall of at least 180. The top passage in FIG. 4is broken away to expose the interior. The ends of each of the passagesterminate in exit openings 37.

In the enlarged view of FIG. 5, it will be noted that the sidewallsdiverge towards the central portion of the passage and then converge todefine a narrower exit opening thereby assuring thorough mixing of thesolution. In addition the bottom wall slopes downwardly slightly as seenin FIG. 4 to provide a divergence between the top and bottom walls inthe last half portion of the passages such that the cross-sectionalareas of the entrance and exit openings are in the ratio ofapproximately 1 to 2.

Each of the passages 36 may be formed by defining the top,

' bottom and inner sidewalls of the passage during molding of the strip32. Thereafter, plugs of strip material 32' such as shown in explodedview in FIG. 4 for one of the passages, may be cemented between the topand bottom walls, the plug being such as to leave a gap with the innerpassage sidewall and thus define the passage.

OPERATION In operation, the elongated flexible strip with the centraltube or bore and passage means may be manufactured in any desiredlength. The strip may be stored on a drum or similar convenient storagemeans and sold in boat shops, boat supply outlets, and other similarestablishments handling boating equipment. The control valve and storagechemical tanks would also be sold to a customer when he purchases agiven length of the strip material.

Thus, assuming a private boat owner wishes to improve the operation ofhis boat, he will purchase a given length of the flexible strip, thesame readily being cut to the desired length such that the strip willfit about the forward hull portion of the person's boat. In thisrespect, the strip should be at least of a length d to terminate nearthe water line W.L. on the particular boat involved as indicated in FIG.1.

The cutstrip portion may then be wrapped about the forward hull portionof the boat and secured thereto by any suitable means. For example, thepressure-type epoxy adhesive such as indicated at 31 in FIG. 3 may beprovided on the back of the strip so that the same may simply be pressedonto the hull portion of the boat.

Thereafter, it is a simple matter for the boat owner to position thechemical storage tanks such as indicated at 15 and 17 in FIG. 1 adjacentopposite sides of the boat levels above the ends of the flexible strip.The conduits and control valves are then connected by any conventionalmeans so that when the control valves are opened slightly, chemicalssuch as oil will flow into the central tube or bore and fill the samecompletely.

As the boat cruises through the water, the operator may adjust thecontrol valves 13 and 16 to cause a minute flow of oil from the variousopenings in the central tube, this oil being picked up by water enteringthe entrance openings of the passage means and mixing with the oil allas described heretofore. The dispensed diluted solution from the exitopenings is such that the friction of the hull passing through the wateris substantially reduced. Normally 1 part of oil to 10,000 to 100,000parts of water constitutes a workable diluted solution. The storagetanks, accordingly, need not be large.

From the foregoing description, it will be evident that the presentinvention has provided a unique apparatus enabling the dispensing of aproperly diluted solution of chemical and water along the hull of a boatto reduce friction. There is no necessity whatsoever for puncturing thehull of the boat or otherwise effecting any structural modification ofthe boat itself. The apparatus thus is ideally suited for private boatowners and is readily adaptable to any sized boat. In new hullconstructions, however, the hull wall may be designed with a reinforcedgroove within which a modified strip would fit to provide a flushexterior surface with the hull. Towards this end, the strip itself wouldhave straight sides such as would result from cutting along the lines 38and 39 in FIG. 5.

While the invention has been described with reference to a boat, theterm boat" as used here and in the claims is meant to include any typeof a water vehicle such as large ships, pontoons for aircraft, flyingboats, and even submarines. In addition the term boat is meant toinclude barges wherein the present invention would be particularlyuseful for facilitating the movement of towed barges across expanses ofwater. For very large boats more than one strip may be used positionedat longitudinally spaced intervals along the hull.

Further, the term tube" as used herein is meant to include, in additionto a conventional circular type of tubular passage, any othercross-sectional variation, and for convenience is deemed to coverequivalent passages such as rectangularly shaped passages or other typesof conduit providing fluid communication. Finally, while the controlvalves have been shown as manually operable, they may be electricallyoperated.

What is claimed is:

I. An apparatus for dispensing a diluted solution of water and chemicaladjacent to the bow of a boat to thereby reduce the friction of the boathull when passing through water, comprising, in combination:

a. an elongated strip of flexible material having a thickenedlongitudinal central portion tapering to thinner dimensions towards thelongitudinal edges thereof, the back surface of said strip beingsubstantially flat;

b. a bore passing longitudinally through said strip, a longitudinal wallportion of said bore including lateral egress openings exposed along thefront surface of said strip;

c. a plurality of curved passage means, each of said means terminatingin entrance and exit openings along the front surface of said strip saidlateral egress openings being adjacent to the entrance openings of saidplurality of curved passage means respectively,

whereby a desired length of said strip may be cut and wrapped about theunderside of the bow portion of a boat hull with the back surface ofsaid strip engaging said hull and said entrance openings facingforwardly so that a chemical fed into said bore at each end will flowfrom said egress openings and mix with water passing into said entranceopenings of said passage means to form said diluted solution, saidsolution exiting from said exit openings to flow along the majorportions of the hull of said boat.

2. An apparatus according to claim l, including chemical storage tanksfor securement on either side of said boat above the ends of said strip;conduit means for connecting said tanks to the ends of said bore; andcontrol valves in said conduit means for controlling the rate ofchemical flow into said bore whereby the rate of flow of said chemicalfrom said egress holes may be controlled.

3. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which said bore is defined by atube imbedded within said strip, each of said curved passage means beingin the form of a spiral circumferentially extending substantially 360about said tube, said entrance and exit openings lying in a plane normalto the back surface of said strip and spaced longitudinally by an amountdefined by the pitch of said spiral.

4. An apparatus according to claim l, in which each of said curvedpassage means extends over an are greater than 180, the sidewallsinitially diverging towards the central portions of the passage and thenconverging to define a narrower exit opening.

1. An apparatus for dispensing a diluted solution of water and chemicaladjacent to the bow of a boat to thereby reduce the friction of the boathull when passing through water, comprising, in combination: a. anelongated strip of flexible material having a thickened longitudinalcentral portion tapering to thinner dimensions towards the longitudinaledges thereof, the back surface of said strip being substantially flat;b. a bore passing longitudinally through said strip, a longitudinal wallportion of said bore including lateral egress openings exposed along thefront surface of said strip; c. a plurality of curved passage means,each of said means terminating in entrance and exit openings along thefront surface of said strip said lateral egress openings being adjacentto the entrance openings of said plurality of curved passage meansrespectively, whereby a desired length of said strip may be cut andwrapped about the underside of the bow portion of a boat hull with theback surface of said strip engaging said hull and said entrance openingsfacing forwardly so that a chemical fed into said bore at each end willflow from said egress openings and mix with water passing into saidentrance openings of said passage means to form said diluted solution,said solution exiting from said exit openings to flow along the majorportions of the hull of said boat.
 2. An apparatus according to claim 1,including chemical storage tanks for securement on either side of saidboat above the ends of said strip; conduit means for connecting saidtanks to the ends of said bore; and control valves in said conduit meansfor controlling the rate of chemical flow into said bore whereby therate of flow of said chemical from said egress holes may be controlled.3. An apparatus according to claim 1, in which said bore is defined by atube imbedded within said strip, each of said curved passage means beingin the form of a spiral circumferentially extending substantially 360*about said tube, said entrance and exit openings lying in a plane normalto the back surface of said strip and spaced longitudinally by an amountdefined by the pitch of said spiral.
 4. An apparatus according to claim1, in which each of said curved passage means extends over an arcgreater than 180* , the sidewalls initially diverging towards thecentral portions of the passage and then converging to define a narrowerexit opening.